I saw a decent review of these recently, citing that they were dupes for some things, and thought I should check them out next time I was near a Shoppers Drug Mart. I found these on for $2.50 apiece and thought I’d try out two of the more neutral ones. These eyeshadows must have really wanted me to have them, as they rang up for $1.24 for one, then $0.62 for the next! Both the checkout lady and I were confused as there was no sale, nor clearance marked anywhere. I was too surprised to think to grab more at the time, I wish I had! If you’re in Canada, and near a Shoppers (I’m not sure where it’s sold outside of Canada, sorry) check it out, you never know.

Essence Party All Night, Get Ready

Essence Party All Night, Get Ready

I picked up Essence Party All Night 35 (a shimmery metallic taupe) and Get Ready 09 (a more satin finish cocoa brown). These have just the tiniest, super faint rose scent. It’s barely perceptible. You would have to be super sensitive to scent to smell it (I am). I am in no way saying this is fragranced to the point it would bother anyone. I can only smell it in the compact, not on my face. And I can barely smell it in the compact! But it’s there.

Starting with Essence Party All Night! The names are obviously geared to young teenagers, I hope they don’t mind I’ve bought up all their makeup. This shade is marked as a metallic, which it is, but not harshly so. On the lid it blends out to a lovely shimmery taupe. I find it blends into my skin tone well and enhances it in a pretty but subtle way. The texture is soft, smooth, incredibly blendable. I wore this all day (with Get Ready in the crease) and it lasted. All day. And this was a hot day, full of shopping and running around. I don’t wear eyeshadow primer, so far it hasn’t worked for me well, so that was just this eyeshadow, over my regular foundation. For this price, I am super impressed. If you are looking for an awesome, everyday, shimmery neutral taupe that would look great with everything, try this. You won’t be disappointed.

Essence Party All Night

Essence Get Ready is a cooler leaning cocoa brown shade. I like that it isn’t too warm a shade. This one is marked as a shimmer, but on swatches and on the lid it is more of a satin, nearing a matte. I like using this in the crease so far, but might try it alone as a simple brown smoky eye some time now that I know the lasting power is pretty good. It is also soft and blends out nicely, however not quite as well as Party All Night. It has slightly less pigment. This is probably for the best as this might apply far too much colour too quickly and as a result be hard to blend out if it was as pigmented as Party All Night. I do like this especially as it is a cooler toned cocoa brown. I would probably rebuy, especially if I could grab it as cheap as I did this time!

Essence Get Ready

Here they are swatched, in shade and flash. NC 20/25 skin. Party All Night on top, Get Ready beneath.

Essence Party All Night, Get Ready Swatched

And here is a super simple eye looking using only these two eyeshadows and mascara. Party All Night on lid, Get Ready in the crease. Both were run under the eye and blended to line. A beautiful, easy, fast, perfect for everyday look.

Essence Party All Night, Get Ready on eye

Overall, yes I’d recommend these. Cost is great, wear time is great, texture and shades are great! I don’t mind the packaging, it’s sturdy enough for my needs. They are unlikely to break if dropped on my carpet but I can see how someone might have issues dropping them on hardwood or tile. I’m planning a future post to compare these to other shadows for dupes, both higher and lower end.

Worth mentioning, the overspray on Party All Night makes it look far more glittery than it actually is. Here is a shot to show the contrast between the unused portion with glitter overspray, and the used under portion. You’ll see it’s quite different. Don’t be fooled by the super shiny presentation! It’s far more pretty and subtle, I promise!

Essence Party All Night, Under Overspray

Essence single eyeshadows are a huge 0.08oz/2.5g and are available for $2.50 (or less!)

Today’s nails of the day is Essie Sunday Funday! It’s a bright, pretty, orange leaning coral with a light amount of white shimmery flecks throughout. Perfect for a glisteny, juicy, summery look! It’s gorgeous, I have no idea how it stayed on the shelves long enough to make it to the discounter I found it at. It applied beautifully and drying time seemed pretty good! I wanted to try out my new dotting tool on top of this shade, and here is 2 coats swatched, no topcoat!

Essie Sunday Funday

For the dotting, I used NYC Park Ave, Nicole by OPI It’s All About the Glam, NYC Water Street Blue (stunning on it’s own as well, but stains) and of course that’s Sunday Funday on the far right.

Final result close up on thumb. I also did my ring finger, I think more might have been overkill. I think I might need a more opaque white, or a bigger dotter as I had some issues making the white dot even but overall I do like the look! I’m really enjoying this little tool 🙂

Today I’m giving a quick swatch and review of my last polish from the goodie bag for a good cause I got last month. Awkwardly named Nicole for OPI My Jay or the Highway is from their Modern Family Collection. I’ve never seen the show – no cable, but I’d watch it on the merit of Ed O’Neil from Married with Children notoriety alone if I did have it.

Nicole My Jay or the Highway

Nicole My Jay or the Highway

Nicole My Jay or the Highway

My Jay or the Highway is a warmer leaning light taupe. I had some trouble capturing it accurately in the sun, but it shows fairly accurately in the shade. In indoor lighting under a flash it leans very green. If you have very steady hands, this will apply smoothly with opaque coverage at two coats but I went with three. Dry time was fairly quick. The formula was thin but not runny. Some photos in various lightings.

Nicole My Jay or the Highway Indoor Light

Nicole My Jay or the Highway Indoor Light

This taupe is a good formula and a neutral, subtle and classy enough shade for even a very conservative office. I do like it, but not as much as my other taupes which are slightly darker and cooler in tone. I think that this one leans warmer is what is making me not like it as much as others. If you have a warm skin tone and look great in sage green shades, this taupe would be for you. For me, I think it would be a good base for other nail art. So although this a great formula and a perfectly good work wear shade, it’s also boring as all get out so I stuck on some leopard stickers to convince me to keep it on long enough for the purpose of this review.